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Flint, Michigan is all over the news these days, and the headlines aren't good. The city's infrastructure is crumbling and residents are being exposed to toxic levels of lead. Long-term exposure to lead creates serious health problems, particularly in children because they’re still growing and developing.

Here's the thing... the lead problem is not just in Flint. The USA Today recently published an investigative report stating that as many as 2,000 other U.S. cities could be facing the same problem. However, the Environmental Protection Agency, Water Quality Association, and NSF saw this coming.

Several years ago, the EPA rewrote the safe drinking water standard to allow less than 15 parts per billion (ppb) of lead. At the same time, WQA and NSF changed water filtration drinking standards to check for particulate lead, and not just soluble lead.

What's the difference in the two? Soluble lead is more commonly found leaching from the soil, in ground water, or due to industrial pollution, and is usually reduced at the water municipality. Particulate lead is more likely to be found in water at the home due to pipes between the water municipality and the tap, so even when the water leaves the plant in great shape, it can arrive at your home with dangerous lead.

When the standards changed to include particulate lead, which is much harder to reduce, many water filtration products lost their NSF/ANSI Standard 53, or certification to reduce lead. But not Protect Plus!

Protect Plus is one of the only retail companies with products that successfully reduces particulate lead from the water, as well as more than 50 volatile organic chemicals (VOCs), such as herbicides and pesticides. Even better, some of our most affordable and easy-to-use products are extremely effective! All of our lead-reduction water filters reduce the measurable lead to less than 10 ppb, far exceeding the requirement for certification.

This certification is not required and Protect Plus voluntarily certifies all of its water filtration products. Years ago, our company pioneered the use of additives in water and air filtration. Glenn Cueman and Dr. Arvind Patil, senior scientists in our technology division, are extremely active with the WQA, EPA and NSF. They made significant contributions to the new standards of testing because they are seen as experts in the field.
Some of our products that are certified to reduce lead in drinking water include: